I've been into tie dying for a while and never really found a fully satisfactory method. Today, however, I think I might have happened on a really good method.

My first attempts were with India ink/alcohol and shoe dye/alcohol mixtures. Both of these methods worked to some degree but left many of the ties not well dyed and tended to over-exaggerate the grain. I also tried RIT brown dye #26 as well as their black dye. Again, both worked, but the ties tended to look more like painted wood, and mixing the dye is a bit of a pain. Recently, I tried regular oil stain. It also worked and gave better appearance, but the stain was thick which made it messy and hard to get the ties dry. Today (June 12, 2001) I discovered that MinWax makes a water based stain. I got their darkest American Walnut and simply dumped the stain and ties in a shallow vessel, lifted them out and drained them using an el-shaped stainless steel potato masher (wife's not home). Clean-up is easy with water and there are no oily paper towels or rags to create a hazard.

Speaking of water-based materials, I have also been using water-based polyurethane to seal Homasote roadbed. We used it on the G gauge layout at the club to prevent swelling from moisture. It has worked well for the last two years, and I'll be using it on my S scale layout as well. It's a little more expensive, but there is no odor and clean-up is with water. It's worth it for me.

Rusty Spike Vol 32 #1 Jan-Feb 2002

Q) Do you guys who use code 55 rail on sidings, or whatever, glue or spike the rails? If glue, what glue? - Al

A) Bob Talbot has one short siding with code 55 rail. The rail was glued in place using PlioBond contact cement. The bottom of the rail was coated with the PlioBond and allowed to set up overnight (or longer). The rail was then placed on the ties and set by running a hot soldering iron along the top.

The gauge can be adjusted by reheating the rail and moving it into the new position. - Bill

Q) I was looking at an old photo of the Pratt St. line in Baltimore, MD. This is the line, I believe, that was served by the dockside switcher, prototype of the famous Varney 'Little Joe'. In the photo there is a spur entering a building that curves from the line in the center of the street. I estimate that the curve is about 35' radius. Can you tell me about what minimum radius a prototype train of 40' freight cars, coupled together and pulled by an appropriate loco, can negotiate (at a walk, of course)?

A) According to RP-11, I have to suggest that what you saw must surely have been deceptive. A prototype radius of 35 feet would be a 5 inch radius in HO and would only be suitable for street cars using radial couplers or towbars.

A 40 foot boxcar with radial couplers could make a 100 degree/65 foot prototype radius - 9 inch radius in HO. This is street car and interurban operation. It would also be best if the cars had the rounded end that was typical of interurban operations in tight areas. They could actually approach 35 foot radius with their 27/28 foot and 36 foot cars and flats without a great deal of difficulty. The rounded end cars really added a lot of flexibility.

A 40 foot boxcar with standard couplers and a 0-4-0 steamer or 4 wheel diesel could make a 60 degree/100 foot radius - 11 inch radius in HO. This would generally fit into the docksider situation especially if they were to use a special pusher car or flat that would allow for a tighter radius. The smaller the car and the more narrow the car, the more likely they could make those sharp turns. This is not to say that the turns can't be sharper than this, it is more a matter of reliable operation.

As to tight turn situations, Atlas used to make a 15 inch radius curve section that was well suited to small 4 wheel steam and diesel operations with cars of 40 foot or less. It was great for 'old time' and interurban layouts.

By the way, the RP-11, "Curvature and Rolling Stock" is available on the Standards and Recommended Practices pages of the NMRA web site at: http://www.nmra.org/standards.

Rusty Spike Vol 26 #5 Nov-Dec 1976